How to Establish a Solid Writing Process for SEO Content

In this article I want to share a few tips that helped me develop a fruitful writing process that The Blogsmith’s writers use for every content asset we produce. 👇

I’m going to specifically share insight about the four main stages of our writing process:

• Researching
• Outlining
• Drafting
• Self-Editing

First thing’s first: researching and outlining

Part of your research process should involve looking at SERP data from Google Autocomplete, People also ask, and Related searches and getting keyword ideas from tools like Ahrefs, Clearscope, and MarketMuse. Content optimization tools like Frase and Clearscope can suggest relevant sources to learn more about the topic, effectively curating important details to streamline time spent researching.

Don’t forget to add a unique angle so you’re not intentionally creating copycat content! And aim to create better, more useful content than the competitors.

Here are the (TL:DR;) outlining guidelines we provide writers in The Blogsmith Style Guide:

“The purpose should be to capture the client’s goals and develop the outline ideas as much as possible to save time on the drafting stage — within the client’s set word count.We highly encourage you to include internal and external sources in your outline to avoid sudden idea and intent shifts in the drafting stage.And remember, whether you’re speaking to businesses or individuals, pain-point-driven arguments are always better. Pain points are key for outlining stories that show relatability and engage readers.”

For an in-depth view of the storytelling elements you can implement as early as the outlining stage, check out Chapter 18 of Writing for Humans and Robots.

And here’s a quick tip for moving to the drafting stage:

The benefit of time spent researching and outlining is that you save time when it comes to drafting. It’s hard to knock out a draft when you’re starting from a blank page. A detailed action plan sets you up for success and makes it easier for stakeholders to weigh in effectively if direction needs to change between the outline and draft.

As the writer, your primary goal should be ensuring that the ideas you’re developing are consistent with what was shown in the outline. Nobody likes surprises.

Here are the six edit passes all content needs:

Note: Whether you apply the multi-pass technique after finishing each section or the entire draft is up to you. However, the first is better for achieving consistency than the latter.

“Five passes? You said there were six.”

Nice attention to detail!

You should also perform a sixth pass to determine if you implemented the keywords correctly. Yes, you should always strategize to reach optimization goals. But never, and we mean never, compromise human readability in exchange for incorporating more keywords.

Consult Chapter 16 (and 21 other in-depth content style chapters) in Writing for Humans and Robots for more research, writing, and editing guidelines.

Get your copy here and learn more about the book and download the first chapter for free here.